


With You

by SharonStark



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 01:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19097356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharonStark/pseuds/SharonStark
Summary: Tony leaves a recording for Pepper, just as he did for Morgan.





	With You

**“Right here...?”** Pepper asked the AI once she moved onto the spot the light had shined on, her eyes on the desk in front of her. _His_ work desk.

 **“Yes, but if you would, Lady Boss, please turn around.”** The AI gently instructed and Pepper quirked a brow. **“Boss asked for it to be done this way.”** The AI explained and Pepper felt her heart clench again, letting out a shaky breath as she turned around to now face the door that led out of the garage and into their house that felt...empty without him. Just what did this video message entail, Pepper wondered? Her positioning was so specific but Pepper couldn’t understand why and it only made her more anxious, her stomach was starting to churn.

Then, with no warning from the AI, a light came on behind her and Pepper could _feel_ the warm glow on her skin, her heart racing in anticipation, and then...

 **“Hey, Pep.”** Came Tony’s voice, so calm and so gentle - like he was greeting her on a normal day. And his voice was so _clear _, it was like he was actually _here_ with her.__

__Her eyes widened - instantly filling with tears again just like the days priors to this - and her heart felt like it stopped for a good second or two, her mouth going agape. She started to turn her head, desperate to lay eyes on him, when he spoke again._ _

__**“Uh uh! Nope, don’t turn around.”** He was quick to say and Pepper froze. How did he know? Could he truly be here with her!? Oh, god, it hurt to even hope for that because she knew better..._ _

__**“You were about to turn around, weren’t you?”** His words confirmed that he wasn’t actually here and though Pepper had already _known_ that, deep down she couldn’t help but have hoped that he was, that somehow that light was Tony returning to her; as silly as it sounded, but god, she just wanted him back._ _

__**“See, you can’t yet because that’ll just ruin this whole recording. I’ll let you know when you can, but for now, stay right where you are.”** She could hear the smile in his voice and as much as she missed that, she questioned how he was able to smile during something like _this_. A pre-recorded _goodbye_ message. She couldn’t understand it, and all she wanted to do was burst into tears, but more than anything, she wanted to turn around and _see_ him._ _

__But she didn’t. She stayed put. For him._ _

__**“If you’re seeing, or I guess, hearing, this recording it means that I’m not here anymore. I hope you don’t have to hear this for a long time, but...things happen, and things may happen with this whole time travel thing. You probably heard this in the recording I left for Morgan, so I’ll just, uh, I’ll skip that part.”** She could just picture him waving his hand in the air and making a face, rolling those brown eyes of his that she missed so damn much - that she wanted nothing more than to look into again._ _

__**“Pepper, these last five years? God, where do I even start? They’ve...they’ve been _everything to me_. You, Morgan...Wow, she’s perfect, isn’t she?”** He sounded so proud when speaking of their daughter - so full of joy and it only made her heart clench harder because he wouldn’t be here to see her grow, to continue being proud of her and proud to be her father._ _

__**“You both are and I hate that I’m having to leave this recording, I hate that I’m having to leave the both of you, but I’m happy I got to love you, I’m happy, and lucky, that I got to love you and be loved by you, too. Despite me...being me, all of my faults and my flaws, my laundry list of character defects,”** He emphasized on that last part and it took her back to the day he announced to the world that he was Iron Man, making manage a smile. He must have done that on purpose, he would. **“You loved me anyway. More than anyone has ever loved me and Pep,”** She heard the smile in his voice again. **“I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you and since the beginning, I knew that I never would.”** Pepper’s eyes were shut, the tears spilling out, unable to hold them back any longer._ _

__**“When I say it’s always been you, I mean it. The day you came charging into my life with that can of pepper spray, I knew that was it. I told myself, ‘God, look at those legs..”** _ _

__Pepper managed to laugh, shaking her head as she dropped her face into her hands._ _

__**“Look at that fire in her eyes. I’d never seen anyone more beautiful or sexy and I’ve seen _a lot_ of models in my life, but uh, yeah let’s skip that part, too.”** _ _

__She laughed again. Even in death he was making her laugh. He was making her smile._ _

__**“You’ve had my back since the beginning, you’ve been there for me every step of the way even when I was a complete ass, you stood by me.”** He sounded so appreciative and relieved, even, because through it all, the good, the bad and the ugly, she stayed by his side. **“Then time went on and you started warming up to me, maybe even found me attractive, started seeing that charm I had. Don’t deny it. You were _so_ into me.”** Another tearful laugh fell from her lips, the sadness, the pain, was starting to fade away._ _

__**“The chemistry between us had always been there, it just took us a while to realize it and accept it - you longer than me, by the way.”** He smirked again. **“But hey, it worked out. Pretty damn well, all things considered, what with being Iron Man and my few trips to space. Which,”** His voice suddenly became serious and Pepper’s eyes fell closed. **“I’m still sorry about those by the way, but know that every mission I went on, every dangerous battle I fought in, and my time spent in that Afghan cave, _you_ were on my mind. Getting home to you was always my greatest and most important mission and my greatest reward.”** Though the laughter ceased, but Pepper’s smile did not, nor did the tears. _ _

__**“And though I...didn’t make it home this time, it doesn’t mean that I’m not with you. Because I am.”** His voice became louder, the light was becoming brighter - he was coming towards her. Her heart started _pounding_._ _

__**“I’m always with you, Pep. You own my heart, you _have_ my heart. I’m with you, Pepper, always.”** He promised her and she smiled tearfully to herself, his words warming her heart and making it do that dance that only _he_ could make happen. **“I didn’t lie when I said you completed me, because you did. You always have. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been because of you, I’m the man I am because of you, because of Yinsen, Rhodey, Happy, but _you_ have always been at the center of my life, Pepper. You have always been my constant.”**_ _

__He came closer and closer, the light was becoming warmer and she could feel the bumps rising on her skin. Her heart was pounding harder than it ever had been and she wanted nothing more than for him to wrap his arms around her like he’d done several times before._ _

__**“I love you, Virgina Pepper Potts-Stark, with every single fiber of my being and even in death, I won’t stop. I won’t stop loving you and I won’t stop being with you.”** Pepper’s eyes finally opened and through the corner of her eyes she saw his glowing arms raise and then they came around her._ _

__**“Feel me, right now, behind you. My arms wrapping around your waist, my head on your shoulder...”** His voice was right in her ear, making her melt as it always had along with the feeling of his arms around her body - holding her close, keeping her safe. Her eyes fell closed and she could _feel_ him - she could feel his warms around her body, as though he really were here with her._ _

__**“Holding you in my arms, telling you how much I love you.”** Pepper was gone - her mind drowning in this moment. There was no glow, there was no recording - it was just her and Tony like it always had been, with his arms around her just like he was telling her. His soothing voice making her weak at the knees and sending her heart into that familiar fluttering frenzy._ _

__**“Your hands meeting mine,”** He added and her hands came up to rest over where his hands would be and she could feel her fingers entwining with his and her body leaning back into him. How she was able to feel all of this happening, she didn’t know. Because she knew he wasn’t actually here, but it felt like he was - her heart was making her feel like this was real and her mind letting her think it was and that was okay. Because like Tony said, he was with her and he always would be._ _

__**“And you telling me,”** He paused, waiting._ _

__**“I love you.”** She said, breathless._ _

__**“You love me.”** He said not even a moment after she did and she could sense him smiling at the same time she did._ _

__**“I know it’ll be hard, Pepper, but you’re not without me and you’re not alone. You never will be and this recording will always be here when you need to see me, when you need a reminder that I’m here. But just look in your heart and I’ll be there. You’ve always been in mine.”** He smiled, then let out a little snort. **“God, that was cheesy, wasn’t it?”**_ _

__They both laughed._ _

__**“You can turn around now.”** He stated, his arms loosening enough for her to turn around in his arms and when she did, her heart skipped a beat the moment their eyes connected and she found herself smiling more than she had since his passing._ _

__**“There she is.”** Tony cooed in that soft voice of his, as though he knew she turned. He just knew her that well like she knew him._ _

__His eyes were just how they always had been - warm, welcoming, full of emotion - everything she _loved_ about those brown eyes of his. And how she could feel so at ease looking into them, how the world around them faded, leaving just the two of them - and right now was no different. _ _

__She could still feel his arms around her and she attempted the same, lifting her arms to wrap around his own body as his face came closer, their foreheads practically touching._ _

__**“You’re probably crying right now, but if it helps any, I have a few more of these for you and for Morgan. During the right times, Friday will play them for you.”** Excitement filled her body hearing those words, eager to see, and hear, what else he left for the two of them. _ _

__**“Thank you for giving me the best life possible, Pepper. Thank you for always being by my side, for having my back, and for taking care of me. For loving me and letting me love you, and for our beautiful, sass filled girl, which she gets from you by the way.”** Pepper laughed, not daring to look away from those eyes of his, even though she knew this recording was coming to an end._ _

__**“I love you, Pepper. Far beyond twelve percent. How about...infinity and even _beyond_ that?”** And with that, and that Stark smile on his face - the one that was for Pepper and Pepper only - the glow faded. The recording had come to an end. _ _

__But she didn’t feel broken, she didn’t feel alone, empty or cold. No, because he was still there with her - she could still feel his arms around her, his voice in her ear, his eyes gazing into hers. She wasn’t without him. Tony Stark was still with her and he always would be._ _

__**“I love you, too, Tony. Thank _you_.”** Pepper murmured breathlessly with a smile as the tears fell, thanking him for loving her and letting her love him, for taking care of her, for making her smile and laugh, for making her as utterly happy as she made him - for all the things he thanked her for and so _so_ much more._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this made me cry and I'm honestly not sure if I feel better or worse since I'm trying very hard to ignore canon xD But this came to mind and I NEEDED to get it out, so 


End file.
